Don't Forget the Leaf Piles
by Stellar Evolution
Summary: A lighthearted fic where Krillin learns about love, friendship, and remembers some things that he had long passed as un-important. Please R&R!


Don't Forget the Leaf Piles  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z or anything related with it… and I live in a box…   
under the local bridge.. please don't take away my Top Ramen..  
  
Author's Note: I've noticed that there aren't very many happy fan fictions that involve   
Krillin and decided to give it a whirl. Please R&R!  
  
  
It was a day like any other day, though other stories like this have started this   
way. A short, sweet tempered man was sitting completely content in his over-sized   
sweats at the bay window of the Kame House, a mug of coffee clutched in his hand. The   
timid warrior cast his eyes out upon the landscape; the waves had been calm that day,   
softly swelling in order to lap at the edges of the small island. It was fall, and though he   
lived on a tropical island, Krillin could still sense the chilly nights that were to come.  
  
It didn't take long for the man's soft eyes to rest upon his coat, which hung from a hook   
on the wall by the front door. On a whim, which tugged at the tips of his toes, he rose to   
his feet, carefully set his coffee cup onto a convenient table, and shuffled into his room to   
pull on a sweater and an old ruffed-up pair of jeans. After he was dressed, Krillin went   
back to the living room, picked up the jacket, and stepped outside. It only took three or   
four short steps across the bleached and battered porch until he was up in the air. His   
mind meandered through different places he could go; the whim, which had tugged him   
out the door, sent a random suggestion into his head, Gohan's house. Without a second   
thought Krillin turned in the direction of the mountains, feeling glad that he had turned up   
the collar of the fleece coat he wore.   
  
After a short flight he landed in a clearing before a small, round, one-story house in   
which his best friend and family had lived for so many years. His feet crunched through   
the leaves that were left on the ground, more leaves could be seen to the side of the   
house, raked into large, amber-hued piles. Krillin walked towards the front door and   
gave it a gentle rap, stepping back a few feet afterwards.  
  
When ChiChi opened the door a large smile formed over his face. She gasped in surprise   
and swung it all the way around, stepping back so that he could come inside, "Oh, my!   
Krillin! We haven't seen you up here in ages!"  
  
Krillin giggled a little bit, his cheeks turning slightly pink. It was true that he   
hadn't been to the familiar home in a while. It was as if he had never felt the need to,   
Goku's death hadn't helped with his will to travel, and certainly didn't make it any easier   
for him to see a place filled with so many memories. He answered with a mild grin,   
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Is Gohan around?"  
  
ChiChi closed the door behind him, nodding her head to Krillin as she sent a   
bellowing call through the house to Gohan, "GOHAN! You have a visitor!!" She didn't   
seem to notice, or care, about how the little fighter jumped at the volume of her voice.   
Soon the sound of pounding feet resounded to Krillin's ears as a still very young Gohan   
trotted up.   
Once Gohan saw his friend his face lit up with excitement and curiosity, "Hey, Krillin!"   
Krillin stuffed a set of scarred fingers into his pants pocket and grinned back as his friend   
finally met him, "Hi, Gohan!"  
  
ChiChi quickly lead the two into the living room and some chairs, then went back into   
the kitchen. Krillin and Gohan quickly engaged themselves in conversation, and Krillin   
was surprised at how many things he had missed since he last saw his companion. After   
a while, however, when all of the small talk had been said, and the news had come and   
gone, Krillin shifted restlessly in his chair. His eyes went yet again to the window,   
causing his friend to glance outside as well and smile.  
"Do you wanna go on a walk or something..?" Gohan asked with a smile.  
Krillin quickly turned his head around and smiled, nodding once, "Okay."  
  
Gohan jumped up and ran to get his coat as Krillin stood and shouldered his own   
once again. Soon they were both outside, feet crunching through the sweetly smelling   
earth as the wind chilled their breath into a fine mist before them. A light shift in the air   
around them caused the leaves to roll and dance across their path. Krillin's mind started   
to wander yet again to all of the things he used to do at this home, as well as a few things   
that he could never do again. He sighed softly, a sense of nostalgia slowly setting itself   
into his heart.  
  
Gohan must have noticed the sadness in the man's sigh for he looked over and   
offered the Z Warrior a small smile, "Dad used to like walking here a lot.."  
Krillin's heart fluttered slightly, he hadn't thought that Gohan knew what was on his   
mind. He had always tried to keep from talking about such things as Goku; the memories   
were still awful and clear in his mind. His posture shifted slightly as he tried to think of   
an answer, he felt a little anxious, almost like a marionette that was missing a string.  
Finally Krillin smiled weakly and responded, "Goku always did like the forest.."   
Gohan returned the same sort of weak grin as his pace slowed a bit, "He liked the leaf   
piles too. He always told me not to forget the leaf piles.. Sort of like never forgetting to   
stop and smell the roses, I guess."  
  
The monk nodded, and they walked a ways more in silence among the trees   
before Gohan stopped abruptly. They had cleared a large amount of ground; Krillin   
blinked in mild confusion and turned to look at the boy. Gohan's face slowly broke into   
a wide, mischievous grin. Goku's son turned, and suddenly took off in the direction of   
the house, calling to Krillin over his shoulder, "Race you home!!"  
  
Krillin simply blinked again in further bewilderment; nonetheless he followed Gohan,   
who was laughing gleefully as he ran. It didn't take long at all for them to reach the   
house, and Krillin skidded to a surprised halt as Gohan threw himself into one of the   
large leaf piles. Leaves flew every which way as Gohan rolled down the side of the   
enormous mound, and Krillin frowned a bit as the boy looked back up to him and yelled   
at him to come and jump as well.  
Krillin shook his head, a light blush crept over his cheeks at the nagging urge in the pit of   
his stomach to join the boy and he stuffed his small hands back into his pocket, "Heh..!   
No thanks, Gohan."  
Gohan stood up, brushed some leaves from his hair, and grinned uncaringly, "Aw..   
c'mon! It's fun!"  
  
The monk was about to decline the offer yet again when the rumble of a faltering air car   
sounded above their heads. He looked up just in time to see the craft land in the grass in   
front of the house, letting out an ill sounding clunk as it set down. He watched curiously   
as the door opened and Bulma hopped out of the driver's side, quickly followed by   
Yaumcha.  
  
Bulma smiled as she saw the two standing there, discreetly punching Yaumcha in the arm   
as he started to comment upon how they just needed some gas. Krillin suspected that she   
didn't want to put a damper on Gohan's excited expression, "Erhm.. Yeah! Just thought   
we'd stop by! We were passing through anyways.." Her eyes turned to Krillin and she   
set her hands on her hips, "Hey shorty, what're you doing here??"  
Krillin gave her a weak grin in reply, "Just visiting too…" His stomach twisted, painfully   
reminding him how much he had missed Bulma as well, even if she brought her blatant   
nicknames with her.  
Gohan grinned broadly, he looked overjoyed to see the two, "D'you guys wanna come   
jump in the leaf piles with us?"  
Krillin blushed a tad more, looked down at the ground, and scuffed at a leaf near his old   
slip-on shoe. He mumbled quietly, "Well.. I wasn't really jumping.."  
Yaumcha let out an awkward laugh at Gohan's childish suggestion, "Erhm.. No thanks,   
Gohan.. I think we're fine right here." Bulma nodded and also bashfully turned down the   
boy's request.  
  
Gohan shrugged and raised his eyebrows, "Your choice..!" Then sent himself flying into   
another pile of leaves and sent a huge cloud of the sweet smelling perfume of decay into   
the air.  
  
Krillin picked at the fuzz on his jacket and watched Gohan without speaking. Once again   
he felt a swell of shyness inside of him as the pit of his stomach urged him to join the   
Gohan, who seemed to be having a good time. The two others stood quietly for a few   
moments before suddenly Bulma let out a yip that caused Krillin to jump horribly. He   
turned his head just in time to see her charge at a pile and leap on top of it. She laughed   
as she slid awkwardly down the side and pulled some hair out of her eyes. Krillin looked   
to Yaumcha, who looked back, gave the monk a shrug, and took off only to jump into the   
pile of leaves as well. Gohan and Bulma's piles eventually melted into one another,   
creating one large swimming mound. Krillin frowned a little bit as he watched his   
friends laugh happily and felt slightly out of place. They started to throw large handfuls   
of leaves at one another and seemed not to really care who hit who or how many leaves   
actually flew the way they wanted them to.   
  
The short little warrior stood in a blushful manner and shifted back and forth   
restlessly until finally the laughter of his friends was too much of a temptation. He pulled   
his hands out of his pockets and let out a whoop as he dove for the large mound of leaves.   
As soon as he got back to his feet a wad of leaves was thrown into his face and he was   
suddenly part of the game. Pretty soon the caterwauling turned into an all out leaf war,   
amber colors flew as the companions hurled handfuls at each other. Krillin couldn't   
recall the last time he had felt so fool hardy, so uncharacteristically careless! He sent   
happy cheers into the cold air, as his chest seemed to brim to the top with glee and totally   
lost himself to anything at which he would have been nervous about before.  
  
Eventually after an hour or two the group could be seen collapsed breathless   
within the foliage. Krillin wondered at how the laughter of his friends had been   
something he had sorely missed; yet not realized! After a few moments ChiChi exited   
the house and put her hands to her mouth to let out a bellow, "HOT CHOCOLATE!"  
  
Suddenly it was as if the cavalry had been sounded, Krillin jumped to his feet   
with the rest of them and charged into the house. He discarded his coat to the floor and   
chuckled breathlessly about nothing in particular as they all sat down and had steaming   
mugs of liquid set in front of them. He sat happily next to Bulma as he warmed his icy   
hands and listened to Yaumcha's latest date disaster story as well as other such tales of   
everyday life. He even offered a few himself.  
  
Eventually it became late in the afternoon, and Krillin stood as they all paraded   
back outside to say their goodbyes. He suddenly felt awkward again, blushing once more   
at how reckless he had been with his actions. The warrior glanced to Bulma as if he   
expected to get a mocking look, but instead she seemed to have the same bashful look on   
her own face. In fact, the whole lot of them stood, shifted modestly, and picked bits of   
leaves from their clothes. Quickly, after a few moments, Bulma and Yaumcha got some   
gas to fill up the air-car and said their goodbyes before they took off. Krillin watched   
them go quietly. He felt warm from his previous activities and looked giddily to Gohan   
as he gave the boy an embarrassed smile, "Well.. I guess I should be going too..got a long   
flight ahead of me."  
  
Gohan nodded silently, a clone of the warriors nervous smile spread over his own rosy   
cheeks and he offered a hand to Krillin, which the monk shook, "Okay.. See you around,   
Krillin.. And come back soon!"  
  
Krillin sent one last grin to his friend before he did a hop-skip and took off and started the   
long trip home. He pulled the collar of his coat up and sighed deeply. Though the monk   
still felt the incredible awkwardness in the back of his mind, it was soon pushed away by   
a satisfying feeling of contentment. He supposed that he would go home, take off his   
coat, and hang it up on the rack as usual, but for once he really didn't care either way   
about such things. For once, his heart was filled with a warm sense of happiness and he   
knew why one should never forget the leaf piles. 


End file.
